Hi, Ma name is Val. I'm an atheist. My son is an atheist too. At present there are absolutely no schools in Ireland for hundreds of thousands atheist children brought up by the atheist parents. In the primary school with a lot of effort we managed to escape most of the religious education through informal private agreement with the school authorities, however in the secondary school, which my son would have to go approximately within a year, he would be coerced/forced to attend compulsory religious classes in the form of Religious Education and/or Pastoral Care. I simply don't want my son to be religiously brainwashed in one way or another. Therefore, I petition to secularize all Irish schools, so all Irish children would be able to enjoy normal modern secular education in line with human evolution. All children in the world are born atheist, however then get brainwashed by society/community/education system into one religion or another. We should stop this practice and let our kids to grow free from any religious dogmas. Those parents who want to continue brainwashing their children should do it outside of our education system. Let's make all Irish schools completely free from any religious education!

The Taoiseach must condemn the brutal slaughter of Palestinian civilians who were engaged in legitimate protest. He, and the Irish government, must stand up against the aggression of the Israeli state and for the human rights of the population of Gaza. Mr Varadkar should be consistent in his approach to international diplomacy. The international community and European Union must act on the flouting of international law and standards by Israel with the shooting of protesters. The Palestinian State and its people are entitled to the support and protections of the international community. An Taoiseach, should make clear to Israel that Ireland deplores the actions of their military in killing protestors, that Ireland stands with the people of Palestine and that Ireland recognises the state of Palestine. The Irish nation, with our all our history, cannot and will not turn a blind eye to these acts, and the Taoiseach must act and move to expel the Israeli ambassador The Taoiseach cannot be silent in the wake of this atrocity.

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1. Less waste to Land Fill, 2. One off use of Non Bio-degradable Plastics finding its way to our Rivers, Seas Lakes, Oceans. 3. Less Plastic waste in Rivers, Lakes, Seas, Oceans. 4. Save energy in the Production and Disposal of one of use,of Non Bio-degrade Waste Plastic. We need to re-think our views on Plastic. Many Plastics are used in our Work Places and Homes. Film " A Plastic Ocean"

The current school is not fit for purpose. We feel that our children are being treated as second class citizens because of the conditions they endure on a daily basis. The following list are some of the issues students and staff are facing each and every day; Heating: The heating breaks down on a regular basis, the boiler is over 20 years old and we can't get parts for it anymore. There are currently 14 classrooms in prefabs, most of which are almost 20 years old. They leak when it rains heavily and are freezing cold in winter and like saunas in summer. Room Availability: We regularly have to use 2 rooms in the Community Centre as we don’t have room for guest speakers/workshops. We also use the scouts den for workshops and sometimes for PE. We use a room in the local convent for recorded interviews for LCVP and also the State Oral Irish and French exams. Toilets: We currently have 227 boys attending. They have one toilet which has 2 cubicles and 3 urinals between them. The drains are constantly getting blocked in both the boys and girls toilets. Privacy Issues: Students receive first aid treatment in reception. We don't have anywhere for students with medical issues to administer medication or make adjustments to medical equipment. This is done on the corridor or in the female staff bathrooms. Staff Workroom: There is nowhere for teachers to do corrections/prepare for class. When they are not using their room another teacher is in it. Some teachers don’t have a room, as there aren’t enough and so they are carrying books, copies, laptops etc to and from classes at every change of class. They are currently using their cars to do corrections as it is the only quiet space available to them. There is also nowhere for teachers to have a private telephone conversation with a parent or sometimes a face to face meeting. Subject Options: Some students are left disappointed as they are not getting their first or second choices because there simply aren’t enough practical rooms – we have 1 Art Room, 1 MTW, 1 Home Ec, 1 Science Lab, 1 DCG room. Max per class is 24 students. Outside Space: The yard space for students at break times is rapidly diminishing as we install more prefabs. It is unsafe in some areas and when the gym is in use for TY show or exams the yard is used for PE. It can be slippy and dangerous. We do not have any green space or playing fields which means that students have to walk to the local GAA pitch or soccer pitch for training and games. Parking: The main road where parents collect their children is a hazard as parents double park on both sides of the road and children walk across the road without looking. There is one designated wheelchair space and no bus space. On 12/03/12 the then Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn announced that St Paul's Secondary School Monasterevin was to be one of 219 new schools to be built over 5 years as part of a €2 billion capital investment programme. Our school was due to go to construction in 2015/2016. The project has been plagued with delays over waste water, drainage issues, traffic lights etc etc. We have recently been informed that construction is due to begin in quarter 3 of 2019 a full 4 years from the original construction date. The project is currently running almost 3 years behind schedule and we need the Minister to exercise his ministerial function and direct the Department of Education to progress this vital school project without further delay.

It’s horribly unfair that children not of the right religion – that’s the Catholic religion in 90% of primary schools in Ireland - are segregated and excluded in our taxpayer-funded schools. Religious patrons control the vast majority of schools in Ireland. The solution is simple: any religious faith formation in our taxpayer-funded schools should take place outside school hours. This respects the religious freedom of everyone - who could object to that? From four years of age, children who are not of the right religion sit separately in the classroom during the daily 30-minute period of religious faith formation, segregated from the rest of the class doing non-curriculum busywork while their friends come together for lessons, to sing songs and so on. This is the fate these children will face every day of their primary school lives. Every. Single. Day. The situation is far worse during communion and confirmation years as days and weeks are lost to sacramental preparation. Ireland has a blind spot when it comes to religious discrimination. Just imagine if we segregated children in school on one of the other grounds that are prohibited by law, such as race, nationality or ethnic origin. It's unthinkable, right? So why should we accept religious discrimination in our schools? The Constitution forbids religious discrimination and sets out the explicit right “to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction”. But the State does absolutely nothing to uphold this right. Not only are children made to feel different and unwanted within the classroom but they absorb every word of the lesson anyway, thus undermining the child’s right not to receive religious instruction. It's almost as though parents are supposed to just shut up and be happy that their children got a place at school. But we do not want children to be grudgingly tolerated at the local school – we want them to be treated equally. A state's education system provides an extraordinary opportunity to shape young minds, foster independent thought, challenge inherited institutional structures and influence the development of society for generations. Is religious difference really what we want to reinforce in our children throughout their school years? Is the State doing its job by allowing this to happen? We say ‘no’ on both counts – and we believe that many other parents and fellow-citizens throughout Ireland feel the same way. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you would like to share your story as part of this campaign.

I am an 18 year old bisexual Irishman. I wanted to give blood as we are in crisis at the moment because there is a shortage of blood donations in this country. However, I have just discovered that because I have had a sexual relationship with a man in the last 12 months I am ineligible. I have been tested for all STI's including HIV in the past 3 months. I therefore am of no greater risk to a patient as any straight male or female my age. This policy allows for the complete discrimination and ostracizing of a large community of men in Ireland for no reason other than an outdated unfounded belief that gay or bi men are in some way "tainted" or "dirty". In 2001, the criteria for blood donor eligibility in Italy were modified by a ministerial decree from a permanent deferral for "men who have sex with men" to an individual risk assessment of sexual behaviours. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this change in donor screening criteria on the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic among blood donors in Italy. When comparing the period before (1999) and after (2009–2010), the implementation of the individual risk assesment policy in 2001, no significant increase in the proportion of men who have sex with men compared to heterosexuals was observed among HIV antibody-positive blood donors, suggesting that the change in donor deferral policy did not lead to a disproportionate increase of HIV-seropositive men who have sex with men. in simpler terms, the change in blood donation policy in Italy did not increase the amount of HIV positive blood being donated. meaning that an individualized risk assessment is as good as a ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) this combined with the fact that an entire community of men were now able to donate blood means that it had an overall positive impact on the health care system in Italy I believe the same thing needs to be done in Ireland. it needs to be done now. I urge you to sign this petition to allow gay and bi men to donate blood and lastly I leave you with this simple question. If you were dying and needed my blood would you refuse it because of who I am?

Dublin City Council have demanded the return of the building following an unanimous vote by elected Representatives to have the building returned to community control. Cllr Tina MacVeigh got the support of the community and all the public representatives to return this iconic building to Community Control ! This has so far not happened despite a deadline imposed on Martin Keane to return the keys by 31st Jan 2018. The businessman has held the building for over 20 years and has not delivered on his promises. The building needs to be returned to Dublin City Council so that the council and the community it serves can decide together on the future of this iconic Dublin building and how best it can serve its community! The latest that Cllr Tina MacVeigh has done is to ask the council for a public consultation to deliver a simple message to our council why we the community needs this building in community control ! This June we need to give them a simple message take the building back and let the community have a community space !

Planning laws are supposed to be beyond political interference.

The Sex Education Bill will deliver: Factual, objective and scientific sex education for all schools regardless of religious ethos Consent and sexual harassment issues being part of the curriculum LGBTQ+ inclusive sex education Sex education that is not gender normative and teaches about all genders Education on abortion in factual and objective way Education on all forms of contraception

Our health service is in crisis. I heard a lady on the radio say "you would never believe the conditions unless you see it". I firmly believe that to be true. Our health service will never improve until Irish politicians (and preferably their families) have to rely solely on the public health system. Do we not have the right to prompt and effective healthcare. It shouldn't become a matter of your ability to pay. It might stop them trying to fix the public health services by pumping unending money into private hospitals. Please sign and share.

After an 11-year delay, the Government recently took the final steps towards ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. However, it turns out that the government has for now abandoned its pledge to at the same time ratify a key protocol that goes along with the Convention. The protocol gives people with disabilities a real chance to achieve their rights in cases where the government is failing them. The protocol allows groups or individuals to make complaints to the UN to ensure the government does what it says it will do. This government has effectively turned its back on 640,000 people with disabilities in this State by failing to ratify this protocol.